‘Spikes’ Made It Happen at Lime Rock

‘Spikes’ and friends made it happen at Lime Rock Park: The car show to benefit Sandy Hook families and first responders was, by all accounts, a big success. At the “Spike’s Ride for Sandy Hook,” organizers confirmed more than 2,400 vehicles – cars, motorcycles and trucks – made their way to Lakeville this past Saturday morning, collecting $26,000 in cash donations. That total does not include checks, vendor donations, pledges, t-shirt sales and matching funds, still being tallied.

George “Spikes” LeGrice, 27, an EMT and National Guardsman from Brockton, Mass., organized the event while Lime Rock donated the facility and its personnel. LeGrice recruited hundreds of volunteers for the cause, which he officially launched within a day of the mid-December tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

“I thought it would be a simple bike ride, and by 7:30 p.m. Saturday [Dec. 15] I had a Facebook page, but things went huge very, very quickly,” LeGrice told the Litchfield County Times. “People with any kind of nice car, bike or truck wanted to join in. Convoys came from Connecticut, obviously, but also New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania – we even have people from as far away as Texas.”

Skip Barber said, “This is one of the most ‘democratic’ shows I’ve ever seen. We had Bentleys from the 1930s shoulder to shoulder with Honda Accords, which, by the way, were right next to jacked-up diesel pick-ups, Z28s and Austin-Healeys. Thousands of vehicles... It’s wonderful when everyone feels as one, to do what they can for Newtown.”

Jim Perry, Lime Rock Park’s video producer, uploaded his Spike’s Ride piece by Sunday afternoon (you may click on the “Preview” link for an instant-play, non-HD view), which provides a succinct overview of the show...